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The Strava basemile blast – more than just numbers

Strava challenged people to ride as many miles as they could during January with the Strava Basemile blast. Over 45,000 took part signed up from all over the world, and we rode a sum total of over 12 million miles.

January – cold, ice, snow, rain, wind. It’s as though the weather deliberately throws everything it’s got at cyclists in an attempt to say “FFS, chill out and put your feet up by the fire, have some cake and watch tv like everybody else.”
But no, Strava had other plans for us. The “Basemile Blast” was beautifully simple – ride as many miles as you can in January. The prize – fitness! Haha.

Cycling in a winter wonderland

Riders who hit 200 miles were awarded with a little achievement badge, and then again at 400, and 600. I’m assuming there were more, but I didn’t get any higher. I hope very much that those who reached the top of the leaderboard with over 3,000 miles were treated to some seriously eye-candylicious achievement badges.

Strava Basemile Blast Achievement badges

I ranked 4,858 out of 36,479, or in my age group, 1613 out of 13163. Which is all a bit academic, really. I got more than that out of it.
I lost a few pounds and because I’ve been riding so consistently, I feel stronger and lighter than ever. And that’s on my heavier winter bike – I’m seriously excited about using my carbon bike again when the weather improves. Thank you Strava!

It’s yet another example of how motivating the Strava platform can be, if you get into the spirit of it.